"This house is being watched. You will get shot," proclaims a message spray painted on a board covering a window of a house on West Davison at the corner of Petoskey.

But it's not clear who is watching the house. Every window and door is boarded up. Each board carries a similar message -- squatters beware. And on the garage, a giant set of red cat-like eyes stares between the words, "Don't let me catch you. I will shoot you."

"I think it's kind of weird," said Nakesha Horton, 18, who was walking down the street Sunday after her shift at Burger King.

She said she's seen the house a couple of times, and wonders if the warnings will keep people out. Houses around it are in bad shape. Some are vacant, many are burned and others appear to be slowly falling apart. This is a neighborhood far from the hustle, bustle and promise of Detroit's core neighborhoods.

"You can't just walk down the street, People don't even go in that park," said Clay Vuron, 41, a resident of the neighborhood, walking near a playground across the street from the red-eye house.

County records show the home went into forfeiture one month ago for non-payment of taxes. A few years ago, it carried a $75,000 mortgage. It's not clear when the signage went up and publicly available phone numbers associated with the former owner, who apparently lives in Southfield, are disconnected.

"It's a waste of time," said Vuron, who said he is moving north of 8 Mile with his grandmother at the end of the month. "People are already in there. They need to just tear it down."